Scottish Executive

Arts

Ian Jenkins (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that the painting "The Birth of Venus Boy" by Edward Baird has a permanent home on public display in Dundee and whether it will implement a more open and transparent process of decision-making in respect of the disposition of Scottish works of art that have been acquired by the Inland Revenue.

Mike Watson: Decisions by ministers on the allocation of works of art accepted in lieu of inheritance tax are based on the recommendations of a panel of expert advisers. Following their recommendation, we announced on 22 March that the painting was to be allocated to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. The Scottish Executive encourages the national institutions to lend items from their collections to local and other museums, providing the correct security and environmental conditions are in place. I will urge the National Galleries of Scotland to look sympathetically at any request for temporary exhibition, from Dundee, given the strong local connections with the artist and the estate.

Asylum Seekers

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-17687 by Mr Jack McConnell on 25 September 2001, whether an agreement has been reached between it, the Home Office and South Lanarkshire Council regarding the most appropriate way to provide education services for any school-aged children resident at Dungavel Detention Centre and what the terms of any such agreement are.

Cathy Jamieson: As indicated in the answer given to question S1W-17687 on 25 September 2001, the operation of Dungavel Detention Centre is the responsibility of the Home Office. Discussions between the Scottish Executive, the Home Office and South Lanarkshire Council are, however, on-going in terms of education provision at the centre. In relation to this a meeting of relevant officials is to take place at the centre in May to ensure education issues are addressed.

Asylum Seekers

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-17687 by Mr Jack McConnell on 25 September 2001, whether there are, or have been, any school-aged children resident at Dungavel Detention Centre and what provision was, or is being, made for their education.

Cathy Jamieson: As indicated in the answer given to question S1W-17687 on 25 September 2001, the operation of Dungavel Detention Centre is the responsibility of the Home Office. I understand that school-age children have been accommodated at the centre but this is subject to change on a daily basis. Education is being provided by the contractor operating the centre. As noted in the answer given to question S1W-24470 today, a meeting of relevant officials is to take place in May to ensure education issues are addressed.

Boundary Walls

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-21639 by Mr Jim Wallace on 1 February 2002, what its response is to the statement by the presiding judge in the case of Thom v Hetherington (SLT 724) on the third day of proof that the subject in the case, described as a "mutual" wall, was legally held as "common property pro indiviso" as the words "mutual" and "common" were interchangeable both meaning the same thing and to the fact that the judge referred defence counsel to p639 of The Law of Land Ownership in Scotland (Rankine 4th Edition, 1909).

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-21639 by Mr Jim Wallace on 1 February 2002, whether the presiding judge in the case of Thom v Hetherington (SLT 724) changed his opinion in deciding that "mutual" and "common" meant different things and that the subject march fence type boundary wall in the case was not held as common property but as " ad medium filum " that is, ownership to an imaginary mid-line only; if so, what response it has given to this; what consideration it has given to paragraph 218 in Volume 18 of the Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia which states that the words "common" and "mutual" are interchangeable when being applied in legal terms to property dividing walls, and whether it believes there to be confusion in the area of the law relating to boundary walls given any change of mind by the judge, the statement that the words are interchangeable in the Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia and as demonstrated by the Scottish Law Commission in its Consultation Paper of 1992.

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-21639 by Mr Jim Wallace on 1 February 2002, what consideration and response it has given to the case of Gray v MacLeod (SLT 17) where the sheriff, when faced with the proposition that a march fence type boundary wall was owned to the mid-point only ("ad medium filum"), stated in his written opinion "There has been long-standing doubt as to whether this is correct as a proposition of law" (p.20 of Scots Law Times , 1979) and then went on to make it clear that there was an alternative proposition which denoted the boundary wall was held as common property pro indiviso.

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-21639 by Mr Jim Wallace on 1 February 2002, what consideration and response it has given to the case of Gill v Mitchell regarding a march fence type boundary wall where the sheriff, when no titles were produced, stated he was faced with a difference of opinion, when falling back on common law, as to whether the wall was held "ad medium filum" or as "common property pro indiviso" and while he himself preferred the "ad medium filum" view, the "common property" view had judicial support (pages 48 and 49 of Scots Law Times , 1980).

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-21639 by Mr Jim Wallace on 1 February 2002, whether the statements by the sheriffs in the cases of Gray v MacLeod and Gill v Mitchell convey to it corroboration of the expression of confusion by the Scottish Law Commission which was extant in the period 1990-93 and of the commission's statement that there are two conflicting lines of case law decision which cannot be satisfactorily reconciled in the aspect of the law concerning march fence type boundary divisions.

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-21639 by Mr Jim Wallace on 1 February 2002, whether it will confirm that sheriff court opinions do not create case law.

Mr Jim Wallace: It is not appropriate for ministers to seek to interpret case law or comment on statements made in court cases or on the authority of sheriff court opinions.

  The law in relation to boundary walls has been considered over the years by the courts, the Scottish Law Commission, the Westminster and Scottish Parliaments and both the former Scottish Office and the Scottish Executive. Details of that consideration were set out in my letter of 11 March 2002, a copy of which I have placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 20516). The issues have received exhaustive examination and the Scottish Law Commission and the Executive are of the view that the existing law in this area is satisfactory and that there is no need for legislation to restate or reform it. The only representations received on this subject are those from the member and one of her constituents.

  I would, however, be happy to meet the member, together with a representative of the Scottish Law Commission.

Civil Servants

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23990 by Mr Andy Kerr on 25 March 2002, what specific action it is taking to improve the number of (a) women, (b) people from ethnic minorities and (c) disabled people in senior civil service grades and how progress in this area is monitored.

Mr Andy Kerr: The range of measures is set out in our Diversity Strategy, launched in November 2000. Our efforts in the last year have been concentrated in three main areas: awareness raising within the organisation; diversity proofing personnel processes with the aim of removing unnecessary barriers, and outreach work with under represented groups. With regard to monitoring, we produce regular reports against targets for the Executive's Management Group and for Cabinet Office.

Civil Servants

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what childcare facilities it provides to civil servants; how many childcare places are actually provided, and what the demand is for the provision of childcare facilities.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Executive currently provides the following childcare facilities for its staff:

  Two workplace nurseries, both in Edinburgh, which currently provide care for 66 children, and

  Three subsidised holiday play schemes, in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness. The schemes were attended by 41 children over the Easter and summer breaks last year.

  Twenty-seven staff are currently awaiting nursery places.

  We are currently undertaking a review of our childcare strategy provision to ensure that the childcare support we provide best meets the needs of staff, their families and those of the Executive.

Civil Servants

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many civil servants work from home.

Mr Andy Kerr: Twenty-four members of staff currently work permanently from home on a full-time basis and nine do so part-time. Information on staff who work from home on an ad hoc basis is not held centrally. However, 370 staff currently have information technology installed which allows them to work from their home computer.

Civil Servants

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23989 by Mr Andy Kerr on 25 March 2002, what percentage of staff in senior civil servant grades are (a) from ethnic minorities and (b) disabled.

Mr Andy Kerr: Currently, 0.5% of senior civil service grades within the Executive have identified themselves as coming from an ethnic minority background and 1% have self-declared a disability.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take in order to ensure that correspondence from me to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority of 21 January 2002, 5 February 2002 and 1 March 2002 is acknowledged and that the points raised in that correspondence are addressed.

Mr Jim Wallace: The operation of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme is the responsibility of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. I understand that the Deputy Chief Executive of the authority has now written to you in response to your letter of 1 March 2002, addressing the points that you raised in that letter and in your earlier letters to the authority.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what responsibility it has for management of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

Mr Jim Wallace: Scottish ministers have joint responsibility with the Home Secretary for the policy and general oversight of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. The day to day administration of the scheme and decisions on individual applications are the responsibility of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

Domestic Abuse

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what resources are available in schools to support young people experiencing domestic abuse.

Cathy Jamieson: Last year the Scottish Executive piloted the Zero Tolerance Charitable Trust’s "Respect" package in schools and youth groups in Edinburgh and Glasgow. The aim of this package is to raise awareness amongst young people of the issues around domestic abuse, and to encourage them to build relationships based on respect and equality. We are currently considering an evaluation of the Respect pilot.

  More generally, there is a range of resources available to support schools in dealing with issues relating to personal safety. Of particular relevance is the report, Promoting Personal Safety and Child Protection in The Curriculum, issued by the Scottish Office in 1998. This report stressed the need for all pre-school centres and schools to be proactive in helping children and young people to develop their knowledge and understanding of personal safety issues and the skills to deal with them. The report showed how this could be made an integral part of the curriculum.

Drug Misuse

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to increase the participation of drug users in drug treatment programmes.

Dr Richard Simpson: As part of our Drugs Communications Strategy, national mass media campaigns are already under way, using the Know the Score logo, to encourage the public to find out more about drugs and where advice and treatment can be obtained across Scotland.

  The Executive has provided £13.1 million over the three years from 2001-02 to 2003-04 in additional resources to NHS boards to support new and improved drug treatment services. Additional funding of some £2 million over the same period has also been made available to provide treatment services for drug misusers who are involved in the new drug courts.

Employment

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional financial support it plans to make available to Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire to cope with the job losses at the Faslane and Coulport naval dockyards.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will work with the Ministry of Defence on the redeployment of redundant workers from the Faslane and Coulport naval dockyards.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The number of any job reductions cannot be confirmed until Babcock Naval Services has reviewed its requirements. However, Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire (SED) is currently considering the potential impact on the local economy and will meet shortly with representatives from the Clyde Base.

  Once the scale of any job losses is known, SED will assess the likely cost of the assistance offered to any employees affected. Support will be provided for those affected through dedicated local response teams in conjunction with the Executive's PACE framework. It will be for SED to discuss with Scottish Enterprise any requirement for additional financial assistance which cannot be met from its existing budget.

Employment

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what resources are made available to its special task forces for large-scale redundancies when deployed to businesses.

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how the success of its special task forces for large-scale redundancies is measured and what the success rate of each such task force has been.

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the job titles and grades have been of members of staff on its special task forces for large-scale redundancies and whether any such members of staff have experienced being made redundant.

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether action taken by its special task forces for large-scale redundancies include in all cases offering retraining to all staff in the target business, irrespective of age.

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the staff working on its special task forces for large-scale redundancies are employed on a full-time basis with pension and salary and, if so, how much it has spent on salaries for such employees on each task force.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The national response to large-scale redundancy situations is the Executive's PACE (Partnership Action for Continuing Employment) framework. This initiative provides a national strategic framework for partnership working across key public sector agencies.

  Local response teams have been set up in each local enterprise company area, involving key local and national agencies. These teams have responsibility for implementing a wide range of early interventions to alleviate job losses where possible and, in the event of a redundancy situation arising, for implementing a local action plan targeted at finding alternative employment or training opportunities for those affected.

  Under the auspices of the PACE framework, a wide variety of interventions are used to support a redundancy situation and are tailored to meet individual needs and local circumstances. There are no restrictions in terms of age limit to receipt of this support.

  The membership of each team varies from area to area but the key agencies involved are the local enterprise company, local authority and Jobcentreplus. Other agencies (such as Careers Scotland, Benefits Agency, etc.) are called upon as required. All agencies involved are committed to ensuring sufficient resources, experience and knowledge to support the process.

  Given the wide range of agencies involved, information on job titles, grades, work patterns, pension and salary details of each member of the local response teams is not held centrally.

  Each local response team is tasked with putting in place an effective system across all agencies to allow for the tracking of individuals affected. As each redundancy situation is unique, the local response team will assess individual circumstances and sets its targets accordingly.

  Following the report of the 2001 Review of PACE, work is in hand to develop a monitoring and evaluation framework to learn from the experience of the PACE teams and continue to improve PACE performance.

European Working Time Directive

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been carried out into the impact on the delivery of obstetric and gynaecological services of the European Working Time Directive and guidelines issued by the relevant Royal Colleges.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Work is about to start on a detailed study to identify the impact and resource implications of the Working Time Regulations as they apply to all NHSScotland staff.

  In addition to this, the Scottish Executive Health Department is taking forward work on workforce planning to ensure that we can deal with the many complex areas surrounding the supply of trained staff to NHSScotland.

Health

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has given to health boards about any alternative methods of carrying out tonsillectomies.

Malcolm Chisholm: Methods of carrying out surgery are matters for individual surgeons.

  In light of a number of reported cases of complications following surgery performed with single-use instruments, and in response to concerns over patient health and safety, the Chief Medical Officer advised ear, nose and throat surgeons on 21 December 2001 that routine tonsil and adenoid surgery procedures should be postponed with immediate effect. An audit of all tonsil and adenoid surgery performed with single-use instruments since July 2001 was undertaken, and routine surgery re-commenced with effect from 11 March 2002. A prospective audit of surgery is now under way.

Health

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking in order to narrow any health gap in childhood and throughout life between different socio-economic groups and between the most deprived areas and the rest of the country.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Tackling health inequalities is the overarching aim of the public health improvement programme being progressed by the Scottish Executive and a range of partners. The programme is based on a three-level approach: improving the life circumstances that impact on health, addressing the lifestyles that lead to illness and early death, and working directly on priority health topics. The White Paper, Towards a Healthier Scotland (Bib. number 3036), and the Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change (Bib. number 10298), provide further details and are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

Hearing Aids

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) analogue and (b) digital hearing aids were provided by NHS Grampian in each of the last three years.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The information requested is not held centrally. Central contract figures are available from Scottish Healthcare Supplies for the period January 2001 to December 2001. These indicate that the following hearing aids were drawn off the contracts by NHS Grampian during that period:

  


Type of hearing aid 
  

Number 
  



Analogue 
  

2,662 
  



Digitally programmable 
  

271 
  



Digital 
  

3

Housing

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it gives to local authorities on (a) the circumstances in which it is appropriate for the transfer of revenue balances or capital reserves between their Housing Revenue Accounts and General Funds and (b) the extent of charges to Housing Revenue Accounts for services provided to them by central departments.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Executive has not provided specific guidance to local authorities on the transfer of revenue balances or reserves between Housing Revenue Accounts and General Funds. However, the annual General Fund Contribution Limits Order prevents councils from including in their estimates contributions from their General Fund to their Housing Revenue Account.

  Charges to Housing Revenue Accounts for services provided by central departments are shown in the following table:

  Charges to Housing Revenue Account for Support Services (2000-01)

  





£000 
  



Aberdeen City 
  

1,203 
  



Aberdeenshire 
  

1,340 
  



Angus 
  

1,152 
  



Argyll and Bute 
  

819 
  



Clackmannanshire 
  

873 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

966 
  



Dundee City 
  

1,495 
  



East Ayrshire 
  

1,703 
  



East Dunbartonshire 
  

623 
  



East Lothian 
  

927 
  



East Renfrewshire 
  

588 
  



Edinburgh City 
  

1,724 
  



Eilean Siar 
  

222 
  



Falkirk 
  

1,673 
  



Fife 
  

7,682 
  



Glasgow City 
  

3,871 
  



Highland 
  

2,512 
  



Inverclyde 
  

823 
  



Midlothian 
  

2,152 
  



Moray 
  

1,067 
  



North Ayrshire 
  

1,162 
  



North Lanarkshire 
  

2,696 
  



Orkney Islands 
  

211 
  



Perth and Kinross 
  

1,009 
  



Renfrewshire 
  

2,381 
  



Scottish Borders 
  

1,231 
  



Shetland Islands 
  

647 
  



South Ayrshire 
  

1,021 
  



South Lanarkshire 
  

2,853 
  



Stirling 
  

1,370 
  



West Dunbartonshire 
  

912 
  



West Lothian 
  

1,321 
  



Scotland 
  

50,229 
  



  Source: As reported by local authorities, subject to final validation.

Housing

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current estimate is of the level of resources that would be freed up in its annual budget over the next ten years by the transfer of housing stock from those local authorities actively considering wholesale stock transfer and whether it will utilise any such extra resources for the provision of social rented housing nationally or in individual local authority areas.

Iain Gray: Resources will continue to be required to meet breakage costs, and it will not be clear until the point of transfer what these costs will be. It is therefore not possible to estimate the level of resources that may be freed up. In the year of transfer, Glasgow's resources will be used by the Scottish Executive to contribute towards the costs of "breakage" on Glasgow’s existing debt. Thereafter, some of the resources will be used to fund demolition and the costs of additional new build housing. In the longer term there may be savings and any decisions on how these are allocated will depend on Scottish Executive priorities and will fall to cabinet.

Housing

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-16823 by Jackie Baillie on 2 August 2001, whether there are now any plans to transfer the Scottish Homes stock in Anderston, Cumbernauld or Govan C.

Ms Margaret Curran: Residents in Anderston have been considering a range of regeneration options for the estate, and are due to make a decision later this month. Proposals will then be developed to transfer the houses in the spring of 2003.

  Scottish Homes only owns 11 houses in Cumbernauld, five of which are vacant. These properties are in blocks which have structural problems. Options are currently being considered for the blocks which will include the 11 houses owned by Scottish Homes.

  There are no plans to transfer the houses in Govan, where a management contract is being arranged.

Housing

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-13944 by Jackie Baillie on 20 March 2001, what percentage of the population currently live in affordable housing options.

Iain Gray: There is no single, generally accepted definition of "affordability" which can be used for calculations of this nature. The following tables, based on information collected for the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) in 1996, show the percentage of households, by tenure, spending more than a specified percentage of household income on housing costs.

  SHCS 1996 – Calculations Include Housing Benefit in Income and Housing Costs:

  


Tenure 
  

Percentage of Households in Scotland Spending 
  More than Specified Percentage of their Income on Housing 
  Costs 
  






20% 
  

25% 
  

30% 
  



Owner Occupied 
  

19 
  

11 
  

7 
  



Private Rented 
  

51 
  

42 
  

34 
  



Council Rented 
  

59 
  

42 
  

28 
  



Other Social Rented 
  

70 
  

52 
  

38 
  



All Households 
  

36 
  

25 
  

17 
  



  SHCS 1996 – Calculations Exclude Housing Benefit from Income and Housing Costs:

  


Tenure 
  

Percentage of Households in Scotland Spending 
  More than Specified Percentage of their Income on Housing 
  Costs 
  






20% 
  

25% 
  

30% 
  



Owner Occupied 
  

19 
  

11 
  

7 
  



Private Rented 
  

35 
  

26 
  

20 
  



Council Rented 
  

21 
  

14 
  

10 
  



Other social rented 
  

27 
  

19 
  

13 
  



All Households 
  

21 
  

13 
  

9 
  



  Note:

  Calculations based on net incomes of head of household and any spouse or partner. Housing costs include mortgage repayments and expenditure on rent.

Justice

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22969 by Mr Jim Wallace on 6 March 2002, when the consultation document on vulnerable witnesses will be published.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Consultation Paper will be published on 1 May 2002.

Knowledge Economy

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to encourage the take-up of applied research and knowledge transfer activities by employers from universities other than Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews universities.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Executive sponsors applied research and knowledge transfer activities such as TCS and Faraday partnerships, which are available to all universities. Following the report on the Knowledge Economy Cross-Cutting Initiative, published in February 2001, an additional £1.5 million was allocated to these schemes. The Executive is also a founding member of Technology Ventures Scotland, which aims to promote and accelerate commercialisation and knowledge transfer in Scotland.

Legislation

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what powers have been transferred from the Scottish Parliament to Her Majesty's Government including any transfers which may have taken place through (a) primary legislation, (b) secondary legislation and (c) Sewel motions.

Ms Patricia Ferguson: The powers of the Scottish Parliament are set out in the Scotland Act. Two orders have been made under section 30(2) of the Scotland Act which have contained provisions narrowing the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament in very minor respects. The relevant provisions are article 2 of SI 2000 No. 1831 and articles 2 and 5 of SI 2000 No. 3252.

Local Government

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-18780 by Lewis Macdonald on 30 October 2001, when it expects to finalise approval of Falkirk Council’s Structure Plan.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish ministers issued the draft modifications to the Falkirk Structure Plan on 1 November 2001 and the period for making representations closed on 19 December. The representations are now being considered and it is expected that a final decision will be announced in the summer.

Local Government

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23652 by Peter Peacock on 26 March 2002, whether it will define and give examples of "basic services".

Peter Peacock: "Basic services" would include the full range of a council’s responsibilities, including, for example, for education, social work, environmental health, local roads, etc.

Local Government Finance

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23679 by Peter Peacock on 26 March 2002, whether the £200 million underspend identified in the letter by the Minister for Finance and Public Services to COSLA on 25 February 2002 has been allocated; if so, (a) where and (b) for what purpose, and, if it has not been allocated, what the reasons are for the position on this matter.

Peter Peacock: We intend to make an announcement before the summer recess on the allocation of resources carried forward from 2001-02.

Microcredit Programme

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the group lending model proposed for the microcredit programme is suitable for mixed gender groups.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Evidence from pilot schemes in the west of Scotland has shown that the group lending model is suitable for women, and women are expected to be the main beneficiaries of the extended scheme. Evaluation of the programme will, however, assess carefully the impact of the scheme on any mixed gender groups established.

NHS Equipment

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce a voucher scheme for the purchase of a wheelchair similar to the scheme operated in England.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The Executive has no plans to introduce a wheelchair voucher scheme similar to the scheme operated in England.

  Initial evaluation of the English scheme indicated that relatively few wheelchair users benefited from it and it was both expensive and time consuming to operate.

NHS Equipment

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the budget allocation was for the provision by the NHS of wheelchairs and electrically powered indoor and outdoor chairs in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The information requested is not held centrally. Funding for the service was devolved to NHS boards from April 1996.

NHS Equipment

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many wheelchairs and electrically powered indoor and outdoor chairs were provided by the NHS in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The Rehabilitation Technology Information Service (ReTIS), jointly funded by NHS boards, was established to provide a national information service in the field of Rehabilitation Technology (this includes the wheelchair and seating service). The information collected by ReTIS will be used to assist in the planning and management of services with the aim of improving performance.

  A copy of the ReTIS progress report published in August 2001 (Bib. number 20692) has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre together with an aggregated data service profile report for the wheelchair and seating service for the period April 2000 and March 2001 (Bib. number 20754).

  Further information on ReTIS can be obtained from its website at:

  www.retis.scot.nhs.uk.

NHS Equipment

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are used by the NHS in the allocation of wheelchairs and electrically powered indoor and outdoor chairs.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: I have arranged for a full set of the criteria applied for the provision of wheelchairs by NHSScotland to be placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 20701).

Post Office

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what direct and indirect costs it expects to incur resulting from the decision by Consignia plc to reduce the number of jobs from its operations based in Scotland.

Allan Wilson: The Executive does not currently expect to incur any direct or indirect costs as a result of the recent announcement by Consignia plc to reduce the number of jobs from its operations in Scotland.

Prescription Charges

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on prescribing statins by each NHS board in each of the last two years.

Malcolm Chisholm: The following figures, derived from the Prescription Cost Analysis system, give the number of prescriptions and the cost of statins (atorvastatin, cerivastatin, fluvastatin, pravastatin and simvastatin), by prescribing health board in Scotland. Data are presented for years ending 31 March 2000 and 2001. These data refer to prescriptions dispensed in the community and do not take into account medicines dispensed by hospitals or hospital based clinics.

  


Prescribing 
  

No. of Prescribed Items 
  

Gross Ingredient Cost (£) 
  



Health Board 
  

1999-2000 
  

2000-01 
  

1999-2000 
  

2000-01 
  



Argyll and Clyde 
  

107,485 
  

133,597 
  

3,386,658 
  

4,219,945 
  



Ayrshire and Arran 
  

71,093 
  

94,443 
  

2,356,941 
  

3,297,724 
  



Borders 
  

21,644 
  

26,781 
  

631,781 
  

747,632 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

35,157 
  

45,747 
  

1,097,551 
  

1,414,777 
  



Fife 
  

67,292 
  

83,314 
  

2,371,857 
  

2,972,828 
  



Forth Valley 
  

73,799 
  

93,004 
  

2,369,709 
  

3,069,771 
  



Grampian 
  

98,609 
  

116,161 
  

4,060,642 
  

4,832,065 
  



Greater Glasgow 
  

175,606 
  

230,047 
  

5,899,684 
  

7,709,762 
  



Highland 
  

37,290 
  

45,679 
  

1,236,711 
  

1,520,877 
  



Lanarkshire 
  

131,977 
  

171,266 
  

4,221,557 
  

5,495,753 
  



Lothian 
  

108,373 
  

140,298 
  

4,431,553 
  

5,844,171 
  



Orkney 
  

2,939 
  

3,772 
  

101,799 
  

137,914 
  



Shetland 
  

5,267 
  

6,614 
  

134,188 
  

162,560 
  



Tayside 
  

77,867 
  

97,217 
  

2,796,646 
  

3,559,582 
  



Western Isles 
  

5,087 
  

8,311 
  

132,009 
  

225,162 
  



Scotland 
  

1,019,485 
  

1,296,251 
  

35,229,286 
  

45,210,523

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive in how many quarters has there been a reduction in the payment under section 35 of the Minute of Agreement between the Secretary of State for Scotland and Kilmarnock Prison Services Limited for the Design, Construction, Management and Financing of a Prison at Kilmarnock as a result of the application of schedule F of the agreement and in which quarters this has occurred.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  In five quarters i.e. in Performance Quarters 1, 2 and 3 of Performance Year 1 and in Performance Quarters 1 and 2 of Performance Year 3.

Rail Freight

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what efforts it is making to ensure that letters and packages are freighted from Scotland to England by rail rather than road to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-21801 by Lewis Macdonald on 1 February 2002, what action it has taken to encourage operators such as Consignia plc to continue to use rail for the transportation of mail.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive administers the Freight Facilities Grant scheme in Scotland which aims to encourage the transfer of freight from road to rail and waterborne modes of transport, by helping companies invest in the facilities needed to compete in financial terms with road transport.

  The opportunities to take advantage of this grant scheme are available to manufacturers and logistics companies throughout Scotland. The decision about whether to carry freight by road or rail is a commercial matter for individual companies to make.

Rail Freight

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the decision by Consignia plc to move mail on fewer train services and during the day will have on the viability of (a) rail freight companies, (b) freight only services and (c) freight and passenger services on the west coast mainline.

Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Executive. With the exception of the administration in Scotland by the Scottish Executive of the Freight Facilities Grant and Track Access Grant schemes, rail freight is a reserved matter and as such is the responsibility of the Strategic Rail Authority.

Road Accidents

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23394 by Mr Jim Wallace on 22 March 2002 in regard to the conclusions of a report by the Transport Research Laboratory on whether limited resources are affecting the quality of police investigations, what action it proposes to address the situation in this respect and over what timescale any such action will take place.

Mr Jim Wallace: As indicated in the answer given to question S1W-23394, decisions on funding at local level within police forces are not a matter for the Scottish Executive. HM Inspectorate of Constabulary is responsible for assessing all aspects of Scottish police forces, including their investigations of fatal accidents, and would make recommendations in relation to any issues arising. The Executive has, however, drawn the attention of the Chief Constables of the Scottish police forces to this report.

Road Accidents

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23394 by Mr Jim Wallace on 22 March 2002, when an assessment of the investigation of fatal road traffic accidents by the police was last conducted; by whom any such assessment was conducted, and when the next assessment will be conducted, detailing the reasons behind its response.

Mr Jim Wallace: HM Inspectorate of Constabulary is responsible for assessing all aspects of Scottish police forces on a regular basis, including their investigation of fatal accidents. There are no plans for a specific assessment of such investigations.

Schools

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it proposes to introduce legislation to amend the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000 in order to establish an appeals process for pupils refused a placing request on the grounds that any remaining places in the school are reserved for families who move into the school catchment area after the beginning of the school year.

Nicol Stephen: Where a placing request is refused on the grounds that places are to be reserved in the specified school for families who move into the catchment area after the beginning of the school year, parents may use the existing appeals process under section 28C of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980. Amendment of the Standards in Scotland's Schools etc. Act 2000 is not, therefore, required.

  It has, however, recently come to light that there may be an omission in earlier legislation following the introduction by the Education (Scotland) Act 1996 of an additional ground for refusal of a placing request at section 28A(3A); that is, to allow the reservation of places in the school for pupils likely to move into the catchment area.

  Under section 28C of the 1980 act, a parent may appeal against an authority's decision to refuse their placing request, in the first instance to an appeal committee (under section 28E) and then to a sheriff (under section 28F). Under sections 28E and 28F, appeal committees and sheriffs have the power to confirm an authority's decision to refuse a placing request on one of the grounds specified in section 28A(3) of the 1980 act. Otherwise, they must reject the authority's decision and require them to place the child in accordance with the placing request. No mention is made in those sections of the ground for refusal introduced in at section 28A(3A) by the 1996 act.

  A sheriff in Aberdeen recently took the view that, where the sole ground for refusal was section 28A(3A) of the 1980 act, he could not consider that ground in deciding whether to confirm the education authority's decision. He indicated that, as he could not confirm the decision on that ground, he believed he had no option but to reject the authority's refusal of the placing request on that ground and require them to place the child in accordance with the placing request.

  The Scottish Executive will be taking the first appropriate legislative opportunity to address this issue.

Scotland Act 1998

Ben Wallace (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions it has used section 57 of the Scotland Act 1998 to implement European Community obligations in a devolved area on a UK-wide basis.

Mr Jim Wallace: Section 57(1) of the Scotland Act 1998 has been used to implement European Community obligations 17 times.

Scotland Act 1998

Ben Wallace (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many times it has turned down proposals for the use of section 57 of the Scotland Act 1998 by ministers and officials of Her Majesty’s Government.

Mr Jim Wallace: None.

Scottish Executive Publications

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail the full costs involved in (a) publishing, (b) printing and (c) distributing (i) National Care Standards: School Care Accommodation Services , (ii) National Care Standards: Care Homes for Children and Young People and (iii) National Care Standards: Early Education and Childcare up to the Age of 16 .

Cathy Jamieson: The total cost of publishing, printing and distributing each document was as follows:

  


National Care Standards: School Care Accommodation 
  Services


£7,277.20 
  



National Care Standards: Care Homes for Children and 
  Young People


£7,744.41 
  



National Care Standards: Early Education and Childcare


£21,987.76

Shipbuilding

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why Ferguson Shipbuilders in Port Glasgow was not included in the Clyde Shipyards Task Force.

Ms Wendy Alexander: I set up the Clyde Shipyards Task Force at short notice following BAE SYSTEMS’ announcement in July 2001 of 1,000 redundancies. Given the need to report back within a short timescale, the remit of the task force focussed solely on the upper Clyde and did not extend as far as Port Glasgow. However, in the longer term, the work of the task force should have a positive impact on the shipbuilding industry as a whole in Scotland.

Social Inclusion Partnerships

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much resources were, or are to be, allocated to each social inclusion partnership for housing regeneration in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02 and (d) 2002-03 expressed also as a percentage of the (i) overall allocation and (ii) per capita figures in each case.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Executive does not specify that core social inclusion partnership allocations are to be used for any particular purpose, such as housing regeneration. Partnerships assess regeneration needs in their own areas of operation, develop strategies to deal with these issues, and use the funding provided to implement measures aimed at effecting regeneration locally.

Social Inclusion Partnerships

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to offer any money to the Great Northern Social Inclusion Partnership for the purpose of housing regeneration.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Executive does not specify that core social inclusion partnership SIP allocations are to be used for any particular purpose, such as housing regeneration. Partnerships assess regeneration needs in their own areas of operation, develop strategies to deal with these issues, and use the funding provided to implement measures aimed at effecting regeneration locally.

  In light of this the Scottish Executive do not intend to offer funding to the Great Northern Partnership specifically for the purpose of housing regeneration.

  The Scottish Executive provided £1.001 million SIP funding to the Great Northern Partnership in 2001-02 and has allocated £1.027 million SIP funding to the Great Northern Partnership via Communities Scotland for 2002-03 for social inclusion activity.

  Discussions have been ongoing between the Scottish Executive, Communities Scotland and Aberdeen City Council regarding housing regeneration.

Young People

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the suggestion by M. Giscard d’Estaing, Chair of the Convention on the Future of Europe for a Youth Convention and how it expects Scottish young people to have an input into such a convention.

Cathy Jamieson: I am aware that this proposal has only recently been approved by the Praesidium of the European Convention and await further details.

  The Scottish Executive believes it is important that the voice of the youth of Scotland is fed into the European Union processes and have been, and are working with colleagues on a UK basis to ensure this happens. I was very pleased that the immediate past chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament was able to participate as part of the UK delegation in last month's European Youth Gathering in Murcia, Spain.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Holyrood Project

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Presiding Officer whether he will make a statement on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body about the weekend reports of Red Oak trees being purchased from Germany at £6,000 each for the landscaping of the Holyrood Parliamentary Building.

Sir David Steel: Not for the first time, widespread publicity has been given to an erroneous story about our new building. No trees have been chosen or purchased. The tender documents for this landscaping have not yet even been issued and they do not include a requirement for Red Oak – a native of North America. European procurement rules require open competition, and the contract will be awarded on the basis of quality and cost for the whole package. Market advice suggests that the required trees should be available at a fraction of the suggested cost and that Scottish companies should be well placed to compete to supply them.

  Members should know that one of our press officers gave this correct information to a journalist from a Sunday title who obviously decided not to allow the facts to get in the way of a good story because that information was not included in the subsequent report. Unfortunately, three other newspapers on Monday repeated the story.